Emirates announced it will launch six-weekly non-stop services to the south Indian city of Kozhikode (Calicut), starting 1 July 2008. Kozhikode is the carrier's tenth destination in India, and its third in the Southern state of Kerala.

Lufthansa is said to be investing in a merger between United Airlines and Continental Airlines. Reports have suggested that Lufthansa has discussed taking an equity stake in the merged airline with United officials, yet the size of Lufthansa's investment and whether it would participate hadn't yet been determined.

Russia has blocked accounts of German airline Deutsche Lufthansa in a tax dispute. It is said that Russian authorities are demanding another US$7.32 million to $10.2 million in tax payments in a dispute that goes back several years over interpretations of Russia's tax rules.

Boeing has temporarily suspended work on the shorthaul version of its new B787 Dreamliner in order to keep to the delivery schedule for the first of two long-range models to customers by early 2009. Boeing started shifting the 787- 3 work force in mid-February and has not determined how long they will focus on the 787- 8 before resuming work on the short-haul plane.

India's civil aviation ministry has deferred approval of the start up of a new all-cargo airline ¨C Deccan Cargo ¨C by Deccan Aviation's founder Captain C R Gopinath. Th e new carrier will be operated separately from Deccan Aviation and is looking to launch operations with three A-310 freighters and two ATR aircraft. Th e new airline is likely to be based in Bangalore. Three new carriers did gain approval, however: South India-based Emric Air, Punj Lloyd and Indiabulls respectively received initial permissions for regional and non-scheduled cargo airlines.

Etihad Crystal Cargo introduced SMS tracking, which allows customers to send a text message to a specified phone number to get a "real-time" status update on shipments. "It is vital for our customers to know at any time exactly where in the world their shipment is located," Etihad Airways Executive VPCargo Des Vertannes said.

OpenSkies, British Airways' new transatlantic subsidiary, will operate its first flight between either Paris Charles de Gaulle or Orly and New York JFK, BA said in a fi ling and application for traffic rights with the US Dept. of Transportation. Following its launch in June, it said it intends to extend its European network to cities such as Amsterdam, Brussels, Frankfurt, Milan and other US points.

Lufthansa, Europe's biggest scheduled air-cargo carrier, lost ground to its closest rival, Air France-KLM, in January as volume fell from a year ago while the Franco-Dutch airline reported strong growth. Lufthansa Cargo, Lufthansa's stand-alone cargo unit, transported 130,000 tonnes of freight in January, down 1.3 per cent from the same month a year ago, but volume for the whole group, including carrier Swiss, surged 12.6 per cent to 148,000 tonnes.

Improved security at Sri Lanka's Bandaranaike International Airport has prompted Hong Kongbased Cathay Pacific Airways to resume flights between Hong Kong and Colombo from 30 March. Th e airline will operate a daily service using a B777-300 aircraft routed through either Bangkok or Singapore.

Bangalore, India-based Quikjet will launch its premium overnight cargo operation in April, using Boeing B737-300 cargo planes and with Bangalore¡¯s new airport as a hub. The airline is expected to commence international operations to the Middle East and Southeast Asia after it settles into the domestic market, perhaps as early as end 2008.

Etihad Airways plans to boost its flights to India by adding four new major cities - Chennai, Jaipur, Kolkata and Kozhikode, reported Gulf News. The airline is now finalising launch dates for these services. Etihad currently operates daily flights from Abu Dhabi to Mumbai, New Delhi, Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram.

Billionaire Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Al Saud plans to customise his private Airbus 380 at a cost of US$176 million, more than half the price that he paid for the aircraft, reported the UK¡¯s Daily Mail. The prince, who became the first private customer for the US$320 million superjumbo in November, is planning a ¡®Lawrence of Arabia meets Star Wars¡¯ interior. The plane will feature a movie theatre, gym, whirlpool bath, and several bedrooms.

AirAsia X - Malaysia's long haul low cost carrier - has sold 20 per cent of its equity for MYR250 million (US$78 million), reported the Bahrain Tribune. Bahrain-based Manara Consortium and Japanbased Orix Corp. each paid 10 per cent and both will receive 16.7 million newly issued common shares of AirAsia X or 10 per cent of the carrier's equity.

UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch released a Special Bulletin indicating that its investigation into last month's accident involving a British Airways 777-200 at London Heathrow is centred on the fuel pumps and not the engines. AAIB said examination of both the left and right high-pressure fuel pumps "revealed signs of abnormal cavitation on the pressure-side bearings and the outlet parts" that could indicate either a restriction of the fuel supply or "excessive aeration" of the fuel.